Veterinarian, Dr. Mueez Ahmad, spoke on the subject of intestinal health management and shared insights into his program for raising antibiotic free (ABF) broilers. In his talk, Dr Ahmad touched on the challenges of fighting diseases such as runting and stunting syndrome (RSS) and clostridial related problems such as Necrotic Enteritis without in-feed antibiotics.

According to Dr. Carlos Borges, genetic evolution must be accompanied by nutritional adjustments in broiler breeders. Research that once seemed unviable, such as investigating diet formulations for male breeders, is justified today.

Research has confirmed that organic minerals improve performance and immunity in breeders and their progeny. Protein consumption (g/h/day) strongly influences male breeders in terms of size, sperm quality and fertility.

The Alltech Technical Poultry Roundtable started this morning with a great talk from Dr. Gonzalo González Mateos, from Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain. Professor Mateos emphasized that poultry production is changing very rapidly and the industry needs to adapt to this situation. Amino acids, feed conversion ratio and energy are still very important but we should focus on another areas now.

According to NC State’s Dr. Peter Ferket, when you feed an animal is just as important as what you feed it. During the poultry breakout session at Alltech’s symposium, Ferket explained how this concept can produce quality poultry.

Ferket explained that poultry traits can be influenced via programmed nutrition, which refers to the timed delivery of key nutrients early in an animal’s life. The timing of nutrient delivery can affect the genes expressed in the animal.